WHAT IS VITAMIN C ?

Vitamin c is a water-soluble vitamin that is necessary for the normal development and growth of our body. The other name for Vitamin C is ascorbate and ascorbic acid. Being a water-soluble vitamin, it is not stored in the body and the excess amount is removed by our body through the urine.

Vitamin C benefits in a big way to boost the body’s immune system, keeping it strong and helping keep the diseases at bay. Vitamin C makes the immune system strong by supporting a variety of functions of cells that are responsible for our body’s defenses against microbial and free radical attacks.

Vitamin C benefits the body in a big way as it makes the natural barrier of our body against pathogens strong and also protects the body from oxidative stress caused by the environment through its free radicals scavenging activity. This explains what is vitamin c and its important role in supporting good health.

What does vitamin c do?

Our body gets vitamin c through foods and nutritional supplements. Vitamin c has the following vital roles to play in our body:

  1. Biotin for hair growth
Most of us got introduced to the importance of vitamin c in strengthening our immunity during the covid19 pandemic. It was prescribed to nearly every patient who was affected by the coronavirus to boost the natural immunity of the body against the virus.

Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant that boosts immunity and prevents diseases or helps fight diseases. As a powerful antioxidant, it helps fight harmful free radicals generated by smoking, pollutants, chemicals, etc., and also fights the free radicals generated when our body breaks down the food that we consume.

Aging is mainly influenced by the build-up of free radicals as we grow older. The free radicals might have a role to play in causing diseases like heart disease, arthritis, and also cancer. Free radicals are present in the cell membranes. They are highly reactive and damage important molecules like lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, DNA, etc. Vitamin c helps scavenge these free radicals and strengthens the body’s defences. Thus, vitamin c prevents free radical damage to cells and helps keep skin and body younger for longer.

  1. Prevents scurvy:
Apart from fighting the disease-causing free radicals, vitamin c prevents the development of skin disease called ‘scurvy’. Scurvy is caused when the body lacks vitamin c. The symptoms of deficiency of vitamin c are feeling of tiredness, soreness in legs and arms, and weakness.

When the deficiency of vitamin c is not treated, it will lead to gum disease, hair damage, reduced formation of red blood cells, and even bleeding from the skin. When scurvy progresses, personality changes are seen along with bleeding and infection. The person will have problems in wound healing and finally, death may result.

Thus, vitamin c is an essential vitamin; the deficiency of which can be corrected or prevented by taking vitamin c through nutritional supplements or food items like fruits and vegetables.

  1. Helps growth and repair of tissues:
Vitamin c helps the growth of tissues and it also repairs damaged tissues. Thus, vitamin c has an important role in maintaining good health as it is a necessary micronutrient for:
  • Maintaining and repair of teeth, cartilage, and bones.
  • Wound healing and formation of scar tissue
  • Making collagen which is a protein that helps the formation and repair of tendons, skin, blood vessels, and ligaments.
  • Helping in iron absorption.
  1. Helps collagen formation:

Vitamin c helps in the formation of collagen. Collagen is a protein that forms 25 to 35% of the total protein content of our body. It is found in the connective tissues which link the other tissues like the skin, ligaments, bones, cartilage, muscles, and tendons.

Collagen is a part of vital organs like dentin in the teeth, intervertebral discs, cornea, blood vessels, etc. Thus, vitamin c strengthens our body structurally and keeps it strong.

  1. Production of neurotransmitters:
Vitamin c helps in the production of neurotransmitters thus keeping the nervous system healthy.
  1. Reduces severity and duration of the common cold:
Taking vitamin c might not prevent you from getting the common cold but it might be helpful in reducing the severity and duration of the common cold.
  1. Vitamin c foods
Our body cannot produce vitamin C. It is to be provided to the body through our food.

The important vitamin c foods are Indian gooseberry or amla, broccoli, lychee, strawberries, guava, tomatoes, potatoes, red pepper, citrus fruits like lemon, oranges, and sweet lemon, musk melon, papaya, grapes, and cauliflower.

Taking a nutritional supplement like Ridomaxx Men and Ridomaxx Women helps in correcting the deficiency of vitamin c. Ridomaxx corrects the nutritional deficiencies of vital nutrients that keep the body tissues healthy and helps you lead a more fulfilling life.